This is the blog (and temporary website whilst we update ours) of Laura Coleman, a florist with an incredible passion for flowers, weddings, classes events and well, cake, food and of course, her hubbie Phill. Enjoy the pics, chattering and general goings on. Our website is www.lauracolemanflowers.co.uk. which we're currently bringing up to speed! Happy reading!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Seriously, writing this blog entry is tricky......mainly because when I look at the pics, it makes me well up for a good old blub and a smile, because it was one of the best days of my life.

Being a florist is the best job in the world. I get to meet lovely people, work with the most beautiful flowers, and help brides create a day that is so very special to them. It is also a great job, because when your little brother decides to marry the love of his life, you get to give them a wedding present which will be such a lovely part of their day.

Edward and Cathryn (aka 'Mr and Mrs Hall!) met through a friend, a few years ago and I knew is was serious when Ed phoned one day and said 'Sis, I've met this girl'. That was it, those few words, and I knew he'd fallen head over heels. When they got engaged it was no surprise and no sooner had I said 'Congratulations', I asked if they would like their flowers as their wedding present. Thankfully, they said yes, and here are the results!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Laura was very pleased to feature on CBBCs 'Beat The Boss' programme alongside team mates Sandy Lindsay (left in below pic), Founder of Tangerine PR and Jon Leach (centre), Founder and Chief Executive of Winning Pitch. It was a great experience to be involved in, and the 'Big Shots' team won against the 'Bright Sparks' team made up of three youngsters who gave us a real run for our money!Creating a fashion show for kids was the brief given to us by Saira Khan, and then off we went to fashion college to learn how to spot trends, choreograph a catwalk show and create a mood board. We then interviewed kids to make sure we weren't a mile off the mark with our 'High School Reinvented' theme. The Trafford Centre was our next destination, hitting the high street to identify clothes and meeting the Chief Executive, Events Manager and choreographer to sell in our ideas....................then that was it. Out of our hands, our fashion show was being created and the next time the team met, it was live on stage!!! Here are some pictures from the show......I look very serious in the first few shots, it's me putting on my 'competitive business' face.......very difficult when you've got the giggles!!Hope you enjoy!Laura xx

Monday, November 2, 2009

We are very excited to be able to share with you our journey to getting a place on the World Track Cycling podium. Nope, I haven't trained to be a World Class cyclist ( I fear that I've left that dream a little late) but.....and here's the secret.....we were invited to design and create all eighty one medallist bouquets for the recent UCI World Track Cycling Cup Classics between 30 October and 01 November at the Manchester Velodrome, the home of British Cycling. All the latest info is available from their website http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/.

The start of our podium journeyOn meeting with the people behind the organisation of the event, I knew that they were going to let me be creative and come up with something to be proud of....with red as the key colour, who could go wrong! We worked together to come up with a design that would stand out against the vast space of the Velodrome, and exotic red anthurium were the flower of choice. Teamed with a contempory aralia and cantia palm leaf, the design was set to go. As all fashion conscious flower lovers will know, it's all in the detail, so we suggested finishing the design with double satin silver ribbon overlayed with a splash of red, lovely!

Getting the flowers to the Velodrome

In total, 243 anthurium, 81 aralia, 81 cantia palm, 49 metres of silver ribbon and 21 metres of red ribbon were used to create the bouquets.

We created each of the bouquets, then settled them for a good drink overnight before tying on the ribbon and packing them into boxes ready for delivery. These pics show these phases in action.

All loaded up in boxes ready to head to the Velodrome.......

At the Velodrome and ready for the podium!

Here are the flowers ready to be presented to medallists. And below is a series of videos and pictures I took whilst I was there on Saturday 31 October. I was lucky enough to be able to be sat next to someone who explained all the different races to me......you can see how excited I got about this incredibly addictive sport by reading my tweets from the velodrome at www.twitter.com/weloveflowers.

Getting onto the podium, a florists eye view!!!

Team GB in their camp (I guess that's what it's called....)

Victoria Pendleton cycles for silver!

Wendy in Pursuit of Gold!

Kenny, Crampton and Hoy cycling for their medals.

Matt Crampton handing over his flowers.....

Lined up for the final race of the night.

Lizzie goes for (and gets) gold!!!

On the big screen on the podium during the the last Victory Ceromony of the evening.